[IL-Talk] FW: [IABS-Talk] Chicago Chapter Minutes, January 11, 2025, with Corrections

Wed Feb 5 15:57:20 UTC 2025

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From: IABS-Talk <iabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Deborah Kent
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Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 11:15 PM
To: 'Illinois Association of Blind Students List' <iabs-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net>
Subject: [IABS-Talk] Chicago Chapter Minutes, January 11, 2025, with
Corrections

NFBI Chicago Chapter Minutes

January 11, 2025

TGIFridays, 153 E. Erie St., Chicago

CALL to ORDER

Chicago Chapter president Denise Avant called the meeting to order at 1 PM.
Persons in attendance on Zoom were Michal Nowicki, David Meyer, Alicia
Green, Maryann Lustgraff, Dan Tevelde, Juliette Walker, first-timer Dennis
Debitt, Kira O'Bradovitch, Robert Hansen, Gary Jones, Bob Lee, Pam Gillmore,
Bob Widman, Jackie Cook, Glenn Moore, and Patti Chang. In person were Paul
Shepherdson, Michelle Ault, Marilyn Green, Jemal Powell, Eileen Truschke,
Ken Schad, Ken Borst, Dustin Cather, Marco Giannotti, Steve Hastalis, Debbie
Stein, and Mary Grunwald.

PROGRAM

Marilyn Green discussed her experience with jury duty. The program began
with her article in the Braille Monitor. After the article was read, Marilyn
spoke about her very positive experience. She encountered a few challenges,
but the judge's fairness and open-mindedness were impressive. Marilyn
invited the judge to speak at our 2025 state convention. Other jurors were
given notebooks, and she was allowed to use her laptop for taking notes.
When Marilyn asked for more information about items that were brought in as
evidence, the other jurors also had the chance to examine them more
thoroughly. This opportunity benefited everyone. Denise pointed out that it
is up to the attorneys to ensure that items of evidence are adequately
described. She will share Marilyn's article with the American Bar
Association. Mary reminded everyone that her late husband, Peter Grunwald,
wrote the statute allowing blind people in Illinois to serve on juries. 

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE

The chapter version of the Presidential Release, No. 545, was recorded on
December 27, 2024. The first release recorded in 2025 will be recorded on
January 4 in honor of World Braille Day. 

January 1 marks the beginning of the membership year, and President
Riccobono encouraged people to pay their annual membership dues. This is a
good time for members to update their profiles online and to reflect upon
why we are involved in our movement.

The national board approved a deficit budget for 2025. President Riccobono
said he is confident that we will strengthen our financial position in the
coming year. Our mass mailing program has declined as a major source of
discretionary fundraising. We need to discover new income sources. We intend
to continue to focus on our core mission of advocacy, mentorship, and
building membership. Our staff is very focused on the most effective ways to
use funds. He urged people to return flash drives with the Braille Monitor,
which will help us save money. We need to assess which of our programs are
essential and explore whether our employers have matching gift programs. 

Membership is our most important resource. We have great plans ahead, and we
have plenty of work to do.

Denise added that the membership management module is used by those
designated to have access to information in our existing database. The
member profile is an opportunity for individual members to change their
contact information. The link for the member profile is on the Member page.
Your username is the email address with which you signed up. There must be
one email per person. Denise serves as chair of the National Membership
Committee. 

STATE REPORT

Marilyn encouraged everyone to book their hotel room for the 2025 National
Convention in New Orleans, July 8-13. First-timers can apply for Kenneth
Jernigan Scholarships to attend. Convention registration will open on March
1.

David Meyer chairs our state scholarship committee, and our applications are
now available. The national scholarship applications are also available. We
already have four Illinois applicants for national scholarships. Check out
nfb.org/scholarships and nfbofillinois.org/scholarships. The National
Association of Blind Students annual Midwest Conference will take place
March 7 to March 9 in Chicago. State Convention will take place the weekend
of October 16, and again we will be at the wonderful Naperville Marriott
Hotel.

WASHINGTON SEMINAR AND FEDERAL LEGISLATION

Dustin Cather announced that the Great Gathering In will be held on February
3. The Illinois team consists of Abbu Elfaki, Marilyn Green, Tanesia Bowman,
Olivia Cichowlas, Michelle Ault, Kaitlyn Ryan, Jean Johnson, and Haroan Wen.
There will be two training calls prior to Washington Seminar. We're now in
the process of scheduling appointments with members of the 119th Congress.
Denise and Dustin will be Washington Seminar coordinators.

Denise explained that our agenda will be the Website and Software
Applications Accessibility Act, the Blind Americans Return to Work Act, and
the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act. All of these bills have been
introduced before, and they need to be reintroduced in the new Congress.
Factsheets can be found at nfb.org/washington-seminar. David Meyer said the
Washington Seminar factsheets will be posted on Newsline.

BELL Academy

Marilyn announced that Chicago BELL will run July 21 through August 1 at the
Chicago Lighthouse. Our Springfield Program is now confirmed for August 4-8.
If you know any children ages 4-12 who can benefit from this program, have
them reach out to Debbie Stein at dkent5817 at att.net. We are looking for
blind BELL mentors, so let Debbie know if you'd like to help out. 

We are planning to run a STEM 2 U program in August on the weekend of August
23. Aihua Sprecher, who is studying astrophysics at Illinois Institute of
Technology, will be the coordinator. 

SECRETARY's Minutes

Ken Borst moved to approve the December chapter minutes. The corrected
minutes were approved.

TREASURER's REPORT

Chicago Chapter Treasurer Kira O'Bradovitch delivered the Fourth Quarter
Treasurer's Report. At the beginning of the quarter our balance was
$2,824.26. The quarter ended witha balance of $3,183.84. The balance on
January 11 was $4,763.84.

Fourth quarter income included individual donations of $150 and $35, dues of
$145, anda fantastic chapter auction that raised $2,480. The Read-a-thon
brought in $690. The November chapter collection came to $86. The overall
total income was $3,586. 

There were some administrative expenses amounting to $334.42. We gave four
Washington Seminar grants of $400 each, fora total of $1,600. We made three
monthly payments of $50 each to the NFB, for total expenses of $2,084.25. 

Jemal moved and Steve seconded acceptance of the report. The report was
approved.

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising Committee Chair David Meyer said that the signup period for the
comedy night has closed, but people are still welcome to make donations. He
noted that usually we try to take in money for fundraisers months ahead of
time. Please don't leave things to the last minute! He thanked everyone who
took part in the auction by donating items, Brailling items, running items,
and purchasing. 

Denise thanked everyone who has supported our fundraising efforts through
the years. Our fundraisers help support the chapter and the affiliate in
multiple ways: Washington Seminar, BELL, scholarships, convention, and more.

ADVOCACY

Kira reported that the Advocacy Committee is still working with the CTA
board, particularly with Molly Poppy, on plans to include -munity
orhanizations on ideas for transit stops and more. The committee will meet
on January 27 at 7 PM. All are welcome to attend. 

Denise added that there have been changes in the Ventra app, making it
harder to navigate. Dan noted that there is no way to contact anyone about
accessibility issues. Ventra is still tied to CTA, so we should be able to
work on it through them.

EATALY

Denise said that the Eataly event is scheduled for 4 PM on January 24. 

ADJOURNMENT

Dustin moved to adjourn, and all approved. The meeting adjourned at 2:38 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Stein, Secretary

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